Intel D201GLY mini-itx board build

[ik632]

I just got my Intel D201GLY board last night.

Here are the quick specs:

• 1.33Ghz mobile celeron
• 2 usb on back - 4 available on board (2 headers)
• 1 pata port
• on board vga
• 1gb ram
• about 25 watts consumption while running

http://www.intel.com/products/motherboard/D201GLY/index.htm

Test Plan:

• Install Windows XP Home on it and seeing how it performs as a regular computer
• Install SqueezeCenter and see how that performs
• Wipe the drive and install OpenSuse 10.3 and perform basic computer evaluation
• Wipe and install FreeNAS and see how it runs

I also have a USB card reader bay so I may experiment with installing the OS on a memory card and booting off that (to reduce noise of the system).

[richidoo]

http://www.mini-box.com/Intel-D201GLY-Mini-ITX-Motherboard  $70, yeah, that's cool. Just needs powersupply and some free software! I might try it too depending on your results.

http://download.intel.com/products/motherboard/D201GLY/316977.pdf

I asked a friend today about a certain mini PC they used to use a few years ago for trade show exhibits. This is it: http://www.boldata.com/prod.cfm/view/1/model_id/218    But that's a lot of power we might not need for slimserver only with no Giant Windows Overhead.

What are you planning to use for power supply, Nick? I will be hiding mine in the LAN closet so I don't care about ugly, size or noise, just cheap and fast enough for linux/SqueezeCenter.. We need an acronym for SqueezeCenter badly. It doesn't fall on the keyboard very gracefully!
Rich

[ik632]

There's also a new Shuttle coming out: http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9847365-7.html. For around $200 the KPC will be a pretty good deal. I think the KPC will come with 512mb ram and a 60 or 80gb drive. Based on the size of that machine it could be a great candidate for a new SC (SqueezeCenter) box. I'd be more inclined to set it up with the built in drive as OS/misc and then get 2 external 1TB drives for storage. It doesn't say if it supports ESATA, but USB2.0 should be more than adequate for the speeds needed to serve even FLAC over the network. I think there will also be a $100 barebones without hard disk so you can put a bigger one in if you want. I think they are still a quarter out so the details will get better as we get closer to the release date.

For the D201GLY I'm going to use either a 200w unit that I pulled out of a Dell (it's ATX compliant) or an older 450w unit I have sitting here on the floor. I do plan to get a PicoPsu-90 for the motherboard when it's done, but for testing I have enough to make it work. For hard disk I plan to use a 40gb Maxtor I have sitting here. Case isn't determined but I do have an old ammo case that it would look pretty sharp in.

[ik632]

Ok, I've got the board up and running. With 1gig ram and 128mb set aside for video it's pretty peppy (running OpenSuse 10.2 right now). I would say that with some command line *nix OS with no GUI the video ram could be dropped all the way back to 32mb (the lowest) and it should run very respectably. It's more than reasonable surfing the web. I also played around with Amarok (it's like iTunes for Linux) and had it catalog the media (uses mysql like SC) and the performance was about twice as fast as my Celeron 600.

I have noticed that when loading flash heavy websites Firefox will pin to about 95% processor and stay there while playing. I suspect that it's due to the crappy support for video drivers under Linux. I don't think this is an issue if it's used as a server though.

I'll provide more feedback as I use it more.

[richidoo]

That's very encouraging! Nice test. One thing I was thinking about this morning is about using processor intensive plugins on the slim server. Like Inguz room correction/EQ for instance. In my open baffle project, I think the digital crossover may not have enough flexibility to EQ the bass as accurately as I would like, so I was gonna add a little as needed with Inguz on the stream itself. Analog purists run for cover! I have faith in 32 bit processing.    But only IF it is fast enough to not bug me with slow response while working.

The Inguz plug-in is easy to install and configure for just EQ. But a little more involved for measuring the room for using the correction feature. Maybe you can load Inguz and see how the Celeron reacts? My 2.6GHz P4 has no problem. I am curious if the processing will then slow down browsing for new songs while something is playing with the plugin, or how long loading takes. Another key performance criteria for Inguz is how long does it take for the requested EQ change to actually happen. The documentation says it will go in to effect on the next song, but it will actually update a short time after selection, but I don't know if that time period is processor dependent. The P4 takes 5-20 seconds to make the change. Might behave differently on another OS.  Let's hope so!

Nick, are there any good contact management / email programs on Linux that compare with Outlook?
Thanks
Rich

[ik632]

Novell maks a really nice suite called Evolution. It installs with the Gnome desktop but I install it on the KDE desktop. It feels a lot like Outlook and has the same functionality if not more. It syncs with MS mail servers as well as Pop and IMAP so you are good there. I think the default Ubunut install includes Evolution, but I'm not sure.

I'll play around with Inguz and see how well it reacts on that small board. If all else fails, there are some nice AM2 or Core2 boards that you can stick in a very hefty processor if the form factor is required. If it's not, then there are some nice micro-atx/btx boards which will allow a fast processor and good ram while not breaking the bank

[richidoo]

Thanks Nick! I have no size restrictions as I can put the bugger anywhere on the LAN. I will check out the Novell suite. Thanks
Rich

[ik632]

If size isn't a constraint then I'd go with any half decent few year old machine. You already mentioned that your current machine is fast enough to run the plug-in. You can probably get a decent dual core machine off of EBay for around $300 these days and it should have enough ram and processor speed to get you by. You could then map the drives from your NAS to the server so it wouldn't need all of the drive space and would only provide processing power.

[richidoo]

Agreed. But your little PC is so cool!!! I want one too! But I will probably take your advice.

[Carlman]

Nick,
What would this little computer be used for?
-C

[ik632]

I think it's more than powerful enough to run as a server for SqueezeCenter or even a super quite front end. It has basic audio but most will end up using a USB-DAC so the audio isn't an issue. The video card is very basic so I wouldn't expect huge performance from it. I could install windows and FooBar and give it to you to experiment with for a while if you want.

[richidoo]

I like the idea of it as a very low cost hardware and free software as music computer for the stereo.

[Carlman]

I'm still a pretty big fan of the audio PC as a transport... and it does sound perfectly suited.... I could run Linux/Foobar I believe also... no need for Windows to be involved.
I like having a playlist on a 17" monitor more than a 2-4" little screen.  I plan on building in a monitor and keyboard table in the new room that can also be stowed... similar to how a school desk works with the little table that slides from between the arms and tucks down... but nicer than that.

So, yes, I'd be interested in hearing it... It sounds like a perfect application as a soundroom player connected to a USB DAC... or if has SPDIF outs, a traditional DAC...

I have an old Dell from a company I/we used to work for that is remarkably quiet.  (BTW, yes it was given to me.)  I've also got a new Sony Playstation (thanks to my wife... bday gift)... so we can compare them all!

-C

[ik632]

I guess I'll mount it in a case and submit it for Carl testing then  . Right now it's just using an older and larger ATX power supply which is noisy and the small one hasn't been ordered yet. The new power supply is 100% quite. I'll play around with it a little this weekend and then get it ready.

[miklorsmith]

My next-gen solution is going to be (possibly as early as tomorrow) a wireless laptop on the home network which will be able to serve as the SB remote, among other very useful things.  Bye bye single line display.